Aroma tight drawer



L: K. LOFTIN ET AL AROMA TIGHT DRAWER March 28, 1944.

Filed Nov. 5, 1941 1 A 6 M w Z? W l P \\\\\\\\.MZ a i 7 I 1 CV) (a .6

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; tial vacuum developed when the drawer opened.

Patented Mar. 28, 1944 UNITED, STATES PATENT OFFICE AROMA TIGHT DRAWER Laurence K. Loftin and Thomas D. Tinnin, Altavista, Va., assignors to The Lane Company, Inc., Altavista, Va., a corporation of Virginia Application November 5, 1941, Serial No. 417,944

9 Claims.

This invention relates to furniture comprising one or more drawers which slide into and out of a case. The invention is concerned with drawers which are designed to fit tightly so as to exclude insects or dust or, on the other hand, to retain a volatile or vaporous disinfecting, preserving, perfuming or insect repelling agent such as cedar aroma.

When a drawer is made to fit so tightly into its case as to be practically air-tight, difliculty is encountered in opening and closing the drawer due to the air pressure developed as the drawer is closed and the partial vacuum developed when the drawer is opened. In dealing with this problem, it has been our object first to "provide an aroma tight drawer of simple and ,durable construction, and second to provide ,means for relieving the vacuum and pressure developed on opening and closing the drawer In solving these problems we have provided a sealing strip construction cooperating between the drawer and case for sealing thejoint therebetween, a valve for discharging air from the case to the surrounding atmosphere to relieve the pressure developed when the drawer is closed, and a flexible wall or diaphragm in the case to relieve the paris The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which,

Fig. 1 is a front view partly in elevation and partly in section of a combination dresser and chest,

Fig. 2 is an end view partly in elevation and partly in section of the combination dresser and chest of Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is an enlarged view of portions of the sectional part of Fig. 2,

Fig. 4 is a rear view of a portion of the chest z and dresser combination of Figs. 1 and 2, and

-portion and B thedresser portion of a combisnation chest and dresser embodying the invention. It will be appreciated that all features of I the invention excepting the perforated partition between drawers, which is used when there is a plurality of drawers, may be embodied in a single drawer and its associated case, and that drawers in a single case as well as to the combination of one or more drawers with a chest, as illustrated in Fig. 1.

In Fig. 1, the chest portion A has the usual hinged cover I, side walls 2, front and rear walls 3 and 4, and bottom 5, the latter constituting the top wall of the dresser portion B of the combination. As illustrated, the side walls of dresser B are continuations of the side walls 2 of the chest portion A. It will be apparent, however, that the walls may be discontinuous and that chest A may be secured to dresser B with the walls in align- 'ment or offset, if desired. The drawers and the case into which they fit are of standard construction excepting in the following respects. The inner face of the front panel of the drawer is provided, near its four edges, with groove 6 adapted to receive the free edge of the sealing strip 1. The opening of groove 6 may be widened and slightly rounded the better to receive the sealing strip. The sealing strip 1 is secured to the stop member 8 which is integral with or secured to the case.

'Member 8 is rabbeted on its front surface to provide an offstanding abutment or stop I8 which contacts the inner face of the front panel of the drawer when the latter is in closed position, but the remainder of the front face of member 8 is spaced, in view of its rabbeted construction, a short distance from the rear face of the front panel of the drawer so as to provide room within which the sealing strip may flex to accommodate slight misalignment of the sealing strip with the groove 6. The sealing strip 1 may be secured to member 8 in any suitable manner, e. g. by being glued into or frictionally held in a groove 9 in the member 8. Groove 9 may be widened and rounded at its opening to facilitate flexing of strip 1. The sealing strip 1 may be made of any suitable material, such as plywood, having the grains of the plies crossed at a suitable angle, e. g. 90, and disposed at a suitable angle to the edge of the strip, e. g. 45, to insure resiliency and prevent splitting of the plies. Certain metals and plastics having sufficient flexibility and rigidity also may be used. It will be appreciated that the sealing strip, instead of being permanently secured to the case and extending into a groove in the drawer, might be permanently secured to the drawer and extend into a groove in in the case. In other words, the functions of grooves 6 and 8 might be reversed.

The rear wall of the case is provided with a valve formed therein by the vertically disposed the invention is applicable to a plurality "of groove I'D, cut in the top edge of the rear wall,

communicating with the outer atmosphere through slot I I and with the interior of the case through the slot l2 and sealed by the rod l3. The length of the groove l and the length and width of slots II and I2 will depend upon the size of the case or the size of the drawers, 1. e. upon the amount of air to be vented when the drawer is closed. Slot l2 at least should be shorter than groove III so that'rodl3 may be long enough completely to cover the opening of slot 12 into groove Ill. The size and weight of rod I3 which, as may be seen, is cylindrical and. fits the semi-cylindrical bottom wall of groove l0, should be sufficient to cause the rod to return promptly to its seat after air is vented by closing a drawer but not suiiicientv to offer objectionable resistance to the venting of air and the closing of a drawer.

It will be appreciated that the rod l3 and its seat in the groove I0 may be of any suitable shape other than cylindrical and that itneed not be positioned at the top of the rear wall of the case. This position is convenient from the standpoint that groove may be out before the'case is put together and its open top will be closed and sealed by the'top wall of the case. It will be evident to one skilled in the art of wood working that the valve may occupy any other position in the rear or even in a side wall of the case .or even in the front panel of a drawer.

The valve I0-H--l2-|3 only takes care of the pressure in the case when a drawer is closed. For facilitating the opening of the drawer, we

have provided the case with a flexible diaphragm which, as will be apparent, may occupy any suitable position in a wall of the case, that is, in the bottom, top or side walls of the case. We

have preferred to put it in the bottom of the case, as illustrated in Figs. 2 and 4.

The diaphragm 44 may be plywood of suitable strength, e. g. two plies each /50 inch thick with the grains of the plies crossed to give resiliency and strength. The diaphragm I4 is set in the groove l5 in the frame of the case and is fitted therein sufficiently loosely to permit the edges to slide in the groove as. the, diaphragm flexes. There should be some clearance, say A; inch, between the outer boundary of the diaphragm and the outer wall of the groove and sufiicient overlap between the edge of the diaphragm and the upper and lower walls of the groove to prevent the diaphragm from getting out of the groove when max imum flexing occurs. The diaphragm may be made of any suitable material having the necessary strength, flexibility and stifiness, e. g. sheet metal. The diaphragm l4 functions to facilitate the opening of the drawer by flexing inwardly when the drawer is opened and thus to some extent reducing the suction which otherwise would be produced by the outward movement of the drawer until the air tight seal of the sealing strip 1 in the groove is broken permitting air to flow into the chamber.

Finally, when the case has a plurality of drawers, as illustrated in Fig. 2, the partition l6 between the drawers is provided with openings I! to equalize the pressure within the case so that the valve |0--|l|2-|3 and the flexible diaphragm I4 may serve each drawer. Otherwise,

.if' the partition I6 were solid, a diaphragm and valve would have to beprovided for each drawer.

We claim: 1. Furniture comprising a case, a drawer slidtion of the front face of said member being p0- sitioned for substantial contact with the rear face of the front panel of the drawer in closed position, another portion of the front face of said member being spaced a substantial distance from the rear face of the front panel of the drawer in closed position, a flexible sealing strip secured to said last named portion of said member and extending forwardly into "the path of the front panel of the drawer in closed position, and a groove in the rear face of the front panel of the drawer to receive said sealing strip.

2. Furniture comprising a case and a drawer slidable therein, an opening in a wall of said case and a check valve'cooperating with said opening and adapted to permit a flow of air from the interior of said case to the outer atmosphere upon closing the drawer and to prevent flow of air in the opposite direction, said valve comprising a chamber within a wall of the case, said chamber having a semi-cylindrical bottom wall, a slot extending from the bottom of said semicylindrical wall through the material of the wall of the case to the interior of the case, a cylindrical valve member normally resting on the bottom of said chamber and closing the opening of said slot into said chamber, said valve member being adapted to be un's'eated by pressure within the case, and an opening from said chamber through the material of the wall of the case to the outer atmosphere.

3. Furniture comprising a case and a drawer slidable therein, and a flexible diaphragm constituting at least a part of one wall of said case, said diaphragm being supported by its edges extending slidably at all sides into grooves in a' fixed part of the case;

4. Furniture as defined in claim '3 in which the diaphragm is made of plywood and forms the bottom of the case and is supported by its edges extending slidably into grooves in the side walls of the case.

5. Furniture comprising a case and at least one drawer slidable therein, a check valve closing an opening in a wall of the'ca'se adapted to permit a flow of air under pressure from the interior of the case to the outer atmosphere upon closing the drawer and to prevent flow of air in' the opposite direction, and a flexible diaphragm in at least one wall of the case supported by its edges 'extending slidably at all sides into grooves in a drawer and the. adjacent edge of the case, and a flexible diaphragm in a wall of the case supported by its edges extending slidably at all sides into grooves in a fixed part of the case.

7. Furniture as defined in claim 6 comprising a. check valve in a wallof the case operable only by pressure within the case in excess of that of the surrounding atmosphere to permit a flow of air from the interior of the case to the outer atmosphere.

8. Furniture comprising a case, a plurality of drawers in said case, sealing strips closingthe I openings between the edges of the front panels of the drawers and the adjacent edges of the case,

a flexible diaphragm in. awall of the case supported by its edges extending slidably at all sides into grooves in a fixed part of the case, and'a check valve operable only to vent air from the case toie'qualizeithe pressure within thejcase with t e,Q iet.a m p ere-g,

9. Furniture comprising a case having front and rear walls, a drawer opening in the front wall of the case and a drawer having front and rear panels slidabiy fitting said opening so that the front panel of the drawer closes said opening when the drawer is closed and the rear panel of the drawer occupies a position adjacent the rear wall of the case when the drawer is closed, a chamber within the rear wall of the case, a slot extending from the bottom of said chamber to 10 the interior of the case in line with the rear panel of the drawer, a second slot extending from said chamber to the outside of the case, and a closure member within said chamber normally closing the first named slot and adapted to be displaced from its seat by pressure within the case.

LAURENCE K. LOF'I'IN.

THOMAS D. TINNIN. 

